Mom gets new trial in jaywalking death case

Latest update: The judge has thrown out the reckless conduct charge. See story.

Update: After her plight received national publicity, Raquel Nelson receives a sentence of probation and community service–along with a chance to clear her name.

While she was convicted of walking outside a crosswalk after deboardint a Cobb Transit bus with her three children, she pointed out during her trial that the nearest crosswalk was nearly a third of a mile away. Her four-year-old son was killed when the group was hit by a car driven by Jerry Guy, who was convicted of vehicular homicide and served six months in jail. Ms. Nelson and her younger daughter received minor injuries. Her older daughter was not injured.

Original post: That’s Harsh

A Marietta, Georgia pedestrian has been convicted of killing her own child in a jaywalking incident, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This sad and strange result comes on top of a conviction for the driver in the incident, who was impaired at the time and also has a history of being a a hit-and-run driver.

The mother, Raquel Nelson, faces up to three years in jail.

The newspaper reports:

Nelson was attempting to cross at the intersection of Austell Road and Austell Circle with her three children when her 4-year-old son was struck by a car, said Savoy. The child later died from his injuries.

Nelson and her younger daughter suffered minor injuries and her older daughter was not injured, according to an article published at the time of the incident.

The man driving the car, Jerry Guy, confessed to having consumed alcohol earlier in the day, taking pain medication and being blind in one eye, Flocks said.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last year that Guy was charged with hit and run, first degree homicide by vehicle and cruelty to children. Charges were later dropped to just the hit and run charge. He was sentenced to 5 years prison and probation, said the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.

Court records show that Guy was previously convicted of two-hit-and-runs on the same day, Feb. 17, 1997.

The first hit-and-run also happened on Austell Road, but when Guy fled from that scene he hit another car, seriously injuring that driver and passenger, records show.

Guy pleaded guilty and received a two-year prison sentence, but was out in less than a year, according to the Department of Corrections website.